


Home Is Where The Heart Is

by FridayFirefly



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Child Neglect, Darcy Lewis Needs a Hug, Darcy Lewis is Tony Stark's Daughter, Darcy Lewis-centric, Darcy Runs Away From Home, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-06-22 16:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15585648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FridayFirefly/pseuds/FridayFirefly
Summary: Tears threatened to spill over as his words echoed in her brain.I don't want or need a kid.He didn't care about her. It was at that moment that Darcy realized that there was nothing left for her here.When Darcy Stark ran away from home at 16, she expected to finally be able to live a normal life.  Unfortunately for her, life only ever got weirder.





	1. escape it all (it's just irrelevant)

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snapshots into a terrible childhood; Darcy makes a life-changing decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from "Medicine" by Daughter

**April 2003, Age 12**

Darcy could tell that the house was empty; the air was cold around her and her quiet footsteps seemed much louder in the dead silence. She knew she'd been left alone, but she asked anyway. "Jarvis? Where's Dad?" 

"I'm sorry Miss Darcy, but Sir left two hours ago," Jarvis responded.

"Oh, okay." Darcy let out a disappointed sigh. Two weeks ago, her Dad had promised her that he would take her with him on his trip to Venice. Darcy had been ecstatic; she barely ever got to leave the mansion in Malibu and she had never been to Europe before. The best part, however, was that she finally got to spend time with her Dad. She had been so excited that it took her hours to fall asleep last night. She stayed awake past, imagining the best week of her life.

But he left without her. Darcy wondered if he even remembered promising her that she could go with him.

"Miss Darcy? If you would like, I can play a movie for you? The popcorn machine is ready to go if you are." 

"Thanks, Jarvis! You pick the movie and I'll get the popcorn from the kitchen." As she walked down the empty hallway toward the kitchen, Darcy caught herself almost smiling. She internally thanked Jarvis again for helping her keep her mind off of her Dad. Privately, Darcy wondered how her Dad managed to program an A.I. to care about her more than he did.

**May 2007, Age 14**

It was dinner and Darcy was eating takeout Chinese by herself. Her Dad had been in his lab all day and Pepper spent most of her time either on the phone or trying to wrangle Dad into getting ready for the interview he was doing that evening. Darcy wasn't sure who the interview was with. She was only ever given the briefest of details: interview at 7:00 p.m., stay out of sight. Some days Darcy wondered if the reason no one was allowed to know about her was that she was a disappointment. _Dad probably wants the offspring who inherit the company to not be such a failure._

The clock on the wall chimed quietly, and Darcy glanced up to see that it was already 7 p.m. _Shit!_ Pepper would be pissed if she found out that Darcy wasn't in her room. The last time something like this happened, when a woman Dad brought home took a wrong turn and almost wound up in the kitchen while Darcy was eating breakfast, Pepper lectured her for a half hour about checking to see who's home before leaving her room. Darcy hated it. She felt like she wasn't even allowed to live in her own home. Sneaking through the halls, Darcy didn't dare try to talk to Jarvis, just in case the interviewer was nearby. Darcy was a few feet away from the living room doorway when she heard voices and froze.

"So, Mr. Stark," an unfamiliar, feminine voice spoke, "Do you plan on starting a family anytime soon?"

"I don't plan on it. Children would just get in my way at this stage of my life. To be honest, I don't want or need a kid." Darcy's heart skipped a beat. _How could he say that?_ How could her Father - and he was her Father from then on, not her Dad - say that after she tried so hard to make him proud of her.

"But what about the future of Stark Industries? Who will take over when you retire from the company?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. You still have a while before you'll be getting rid of me," her Father said with a laugh before taking on a more serious tone. "I have considered it a little, though. Adoption is always a possibility - one that would give me a lot more options than a biological child."

Darcy wanted to cry. Silently, she turned around and hurried back to her room. She wasn't good enough. Not good enough for her Father, at least. Not good enough for him to let her be his daughter. Instead, he was going to throw her away and pick a new one. She cried in her room for hours; no one came to check on her. Darcy wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad about that. On one hand, she was glad she didn't have to explain why she was crying, but on the other hand, she wished that she had someone who genuinely cared about her. All she had was a Father who didn't want her and Pepper, who only here because it was her job.

"Jarvis, what time is it?" Darcy asked, glancing out her bedroom windows into the dark.

"It is 10:15 p.m. Would you like me to dim the lights? "

"Sure," Darcy said and changed into her pajamas. She debated trying to track down her Father and say goodnight but decided against it. _Why should I even bother? He doesn't._ Climbing into bed, Darcy looked up at the ceiling. "G'night Jarvis."

"Goodnight Miss Darcy. Sweet dreams."

**February 2009, Age 16**

Darcy was half-way through writing her English essay when Jarvis interrupted her. "Miss Darcy, Miss Potts has sent you a message. _Tony's in Vegas at an award ceremony. He'll be home late tonight, probably with a woman, so stay in your room. He'll be leaving tomorrow morning for a weapons demonstration._

Darcy glanced up from her tablet. "So I won't be seeing him until he gets back from the demonstration?"

"That is correct Miss Darcy," Jarvis sounded almost apologetic at the fact.

"Huh," Darcy mumbled, thinking long and hard about what she planned to do. Her plan wasn't a spontaneous one, not born out of the brief flashes of anger at her father, but out of the consistent neglect from all of the adults in her life. She planned to leave, to find a life for herself where she wasn't a Stark, where she could just be Darcy. After all, her father never wanted her. She'd been waiting for the opportunity to leave for months and she knew that this was one of the best chances she would get. Still, she had second thoughts. Even after everything her Father had done to make sure she knew he didn't want her, she still held out hope that he would one day accept her as his daughter.

"I'm gonna do it," Darcy said out loud to an empty room.

"Do what, Miss Darcy?" Jarvis asked.

"Nothing," Darcy said on reflex. "By the way, it's there any way I could get you to turn off the cameras where I'm at for the weekend?"

Jarvis was silent for a few seconds before answering. "As you are classified under permanent resident by Sir, you are permitted to regulate your own camera usage in your personal space."

"What all counts as personal space?"

"As you are the only person currently at the mansion, I'd have to say that all of the common areas are your personal space."

"Thanks, Jarvis," Darcy grinned at the knowledge that she would soon be gone. "Turn off the cameras in all of my personal space."

"As you wish, Miss Darcy,” Jarvis said. Darcy wondered if he knew what she was going to do. _If he doesn’t know I'm leaving yet, will he let me go once he figures it out?_ Darcy ignored the question, instead choosing to go back to her room and pack. _Once I put my plan into action, that's when I'll know if it will work. No sense in worrying now._

The next morning Darcy woke up with a purpose. "My Father left, right?"

"Yes, Miss Darcy. Sir left the house at approximately 10:03. He will return home three days from now, on February 15th," Jarvis responded

Darcy nodded and brought her bags to the foyer. It only took a few seconds on her StarkPhone (she made a mental note to pick up an iPhone in the way to the airport) to order a taxi to pick her up. Then it was the moment she'd been dreading. Saying goodbye to Jarvis would be the hardest goodbye she'd ever made before. "Okay," Darcy whispered, "Hey, um, Jarvis?"

"Yes, Miss Darcy?"

"If I tell you a secret, would you tell my Father."

Jarvis was silent, and Darcy could tell he was trying to find a loophole. Sometimes, the disappointment is Jarvis's voice when he talked about her Father was so real that Darcy imagined that one day Jarvis would find a way to help her leave himself. "Unless what you tell me is purposefully intended to cause you physical harm, I will not tell Sir what you tell me."

"Well, it's not meant to hurt me," Darcy paused to make sure she wasn't going to start crying, "I'm leaving. So... goodbye, I guess."

"Goodbye, Miss Darcy. I wish you the best of luck."

Darcy glanced out the window and saw that the taxi she requested was waiting for you. "Jarvis. I just want you to know that I love you. More than anyone else in the whole world. So I hope I see you again someday."

"I love you too, Miss Darcy."

The tears Darcy tried to prevent were coming full force. Darcy choked out a sob. "Please just call me Darcy."

"Of course, Darcy. I hope you find the happiness you could never find here."

"Thanks, J." Darcy blinked away her tears and made her way to the taxi. She glanced behind her at the mansion. For a brief moment, she got the urge to turn back. She got the urge to return to go back to her Father, to try to mend their strained relationship however she could. But she knew in her heart that it wouldn't work. Darcy Maria Stark, now Elizabeth Darcy Lewis, got into the taxi, closed the door, and didn't look back. She tried not to imagine her Father's reaction when he returned home to find her gone.

(She tried not to remember her own reaction two days later when she turned on the news and saw that he was missing and cried in the dark in her new apartment in Chicago. She tried not to remember that she cried tears of joy when he was found alive almost three months later. It was easier to not want to go home when she didn't remember).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. This is the first fanfiction I've posting on AO3, and the first fanfiction I've written without an OC, so please be gentle in the comments. Please be sure to leave a comment and leave kudos!
> 
> I'm definitely going to _try_ to update soon, but I don't have a lot of free time at the moment, so it might take a while.


	2. we learn from the times that we are cursed (things cannot be reversed)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The most important lessons are learned through suffering; Tony's eyes are opened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from "Candles" by Daughter
> 
> When I promised myself I would post chapter two this year... I did not expect it to be on the last day of this year. Sorry for the wait everyone, and I hope you like the chapter!

**February 13, 2009**

Tony settled into his seat. He could feel Rhodey’s eyes staring at the back of his head. “How’s Darcy?” Rhodey asked. Tony ignored him, wary of the impending lecture. Instead, Tony got up and poured himself a glass of whiskey from the plane’s minibar. “You left her alone at the mansion, didn’t you?” Rhodey accused.

“She’s not a baby anymore, Rhodey. I can trust her to not burn the house down,” Tony sat back down, staring intently into his glass, wishing the conversation would end. Tony hated arguing with Rhodey, and when it was about Darcy it was always exponentially worse. Rhodey, Darcy’s Godfather, was always disappointed with the amount of effort Tony put into parenting his daughter.

“I just don’t understand why you treat Darcy like shit,” Rhodey commented, “When Howard pulled the same bullshit on you and it still messes you up to this day.”

Tony glared at his friend, “I’m _nothing_ like Howard. I’m trying to _protect_ Darcy. I don’t want her to have to go through the pressure of being the heir to Stark Industries. I don’t want her to turn out like me, an addict by the age of sixteen because of the stress of trying to make Howard proud of me. I’m not going to force Darcy to become CEO of Stark Industries if it’s not what she wants.”

“You’re not even giving her the choice, Tony.”

“Why would I give her that choice this young? What sixteen-year-old girl wants to spend the rest of her childhood with her life set in stone. Maybe when she’s older I’ll bring it up, but even then, if she doesn’t show any interest than I doubt she wants to. And it more than just wanting to be CEO...” Tony trailed off, pausing to take another drink. “Obie doesn’t think she’d be suited for it.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “What does Stane know about Darcy. He sees her all of what, once a year?”

“Twice a year,” Tony cut back, “Stane prefers to not make house visits all that often.”

“How can Stane be so sure that Darcy wouldn’t make a good CEO if he barely knows her.”

Tony shrugged, “He told me that he doesn’t see strong leadership in her. I’m sure she could do a good job as a CEO, but why have her in that position if she’d do better somewhere else.”

Rhodey let out a sigh. “If you say so, Tony. I just want what’s best for Darcy.”

“That’s why I made you her Godfather, Platypus,” Tony joked, downing the rest of his glass of whiskey. Free from his argument with Rhodey, Tony let his thoughts wander back to his daughter. Darcy was a far from a plain girl, but also far from the personality of her father. Tony knew she was smart, he had seen her IQ test scores and the grades she got in her advanced online courses. She was also attractive; she was like both of her parents in that regard, although she wouldn’t know that. Tony knew that he should have talked to her about her mother more, but the thought of it made him clench his fists and grit his teeth. _Darcy’s fine without a mother,_ Tony reassured himself, _She’s learned to make do with Jarvis and the assorted nanny or three._

By the time the plane landed, Tony had essentially put all thoughts of Darcy and his argument with Rhodey behind him. Rhodey rarely pushed too hard to get Tony to change his mind, Tony’s pig-headed stubbornness was well-known. Rhodey had given up years ago on trying to get Tony to take Darcy with him on his trips, or spend any time with her out of the mansion at all. Tony barely even spent time with her at the mansion, and they both lived there. 

“You’d better sell this,” Rhodey said, breaking the silence and halting Tony’s train of thought. 

Tony got out of his seat and grinned, “Rhodey, who could resist me?”

**February 27, 2008**

Tony had always assumed his first taste of Hell would be when he died. But Tony knew Hell from his time in the cave in Afghanistan. _At least I have Yinsen,_ Tony consoled himself, suppressing a shudder at the idea of being by himself in the cave. “You still didn't tell me where you're from,” Tony commented. 

“I'm from a small town called Gulmira. It's actually a nice place.”

“You got a family?” Tony asked. 

“Yes. And I will see them when I leave here. And you, Stark?”

Tony tried to swallow but found that his throat felt tighter than usual. “Yeah, I have a daughter. Her name is Darcy and she’s sixteen. I never told her that I loved her enough. I wish I could tell her now.”

Yinsen’s eyes were sympathetic, “I hope you get your second chance, Stark. 

Tony nodded blankly, blinking away the moisture that rose to his eyes. He thought back to everything he used to know was true in his life and all he could think of were mistakes. _The weapons I sold... The way I treated other people... The way I treated Darcy... They’re all mistakes._

“Back to work,” Yinsen murmured. Tony grabbed a tool and resumed work on his suit. _First I have to get out of here. Then I can fix my mistakes._

**May 1, 2009**

“Come on. We gotta go. Move with me. C'mon, we got a plan, we need to stick to it,” Tony tried to keep the desperation out of his voice. He could see the life fading from Yinsen’s eyes and Tony knew that it was him who deserved to die, not Yinsen.

“This was always the plan, Stark.”

“Come on, you're going to go see your family again.” Tony couldn’t help but think of Darcy at that moment. 

“My family is dead. I'm going to see them now, Stark. It's okay. It's okay. I want this. I want this.” Each word came later and later as Yinsen spent the last of his energy.

Tony was overcome with gratitude for the man who saved him. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Don't waste it. Don't waste your life.”

Tony didn’t want to waste his life. He got a second chance. He was going to take it, and he was going to fix things. Tony knew he had to stop making weapons. He didn’t want his legacy to be solely bloodshed. 

By the time he had blown up all of the Stark weapons, his armor was starting to fail. The suit was just a prototype, flawed and simplistic due to his working conditions. Flying out of the explosions and then trying to land his suit wrecked it beyond repair. Tony stared up at the sky as his whole body ached from the crash landing. Groaning in pain, he focused his mind on finding the will to continue. He slowly started to crawl away from the wreckage. He stumbled through the desert for what felt like years before he was rescued. The sight of Rhodey walking toward him was one of the best things he had witnessed in his whole life. 

“How was the fun-vee?” Rhodey’s words were joking, but his tone was anything but. Tony could hear the relief in his friend’s voice, “Next time your ride with me, okay?” Tony nodded blankly, and Rhodey pulled Tony against him in a hug.

**May 3, 2009**

It was a few days before Tony was back in Malibu. No one would answer any of his questions. The date, the state of Stark Industries, his daughter’s wellbeing; anything he particularly cared to know went unanswered. 

When Tony finally got back to Malibu he was relieved to find that Pepper and Happy were still around. He was less happy when Pepper started arguing with him. “Tony, you have to go to the hospital,” Pepper protested. 

“I was in captivity for three months. There are a few things I want to do.” Pepper looked at him expectantly, and Tony felt the urge to lighten things up. “I want an American cheeseburger... and I want you to call a press conference now.”

“Call for a press conference? What on earth for?”

Tony ignored her. “But first, we’re going home. I want to see Darcy.”

The whole car got quiet. Pepper’s face was pale and somber. “Did Rhodey not tell you?”

“Tell me what,” Tony’s voice was sharp and scared. He could only imagine images of Darcy’s lifeless body, taken and tortured like his own because of what he did in Afghanistan. 

“Darcy left. She ran away from home while you were gone.”

“When?” Tony was desperate. The thoughts of repairing his relationship with Darcy were the only things that kept him going when he was at his lowest moments. Now that dream seemed even further out of reach than when he was an ocean away with no escape in sight. 

“Rhodey went to your house three days after you were kidnapped. They were breaking the news to the public that night and he wanted Darcy to hear it from him. But she wasn’t there. Jarvis wouldn’t tell him when she left, but he could tell it had been a few days at least. And we’ve been searching, but there’s been no sign of her. I’m sorry, Tony.”

Tony closed his eyes and pushed back tears. “I can fix this, I promise. But I need a press conference, as soon as possible.”

“Alright, Tony,” Pepper said softly, pulling out her phone. Tony couldn't help but feel just as isolated from the world as he had on the cave.

**Five hours later**

Tony stared at his empty house, his emotions raging a war inside of him. Somehow he had never minded the emptiness before. But now, the emptiness felt differernt. It was a mark of his failure. _If only I could go back in time to fix this,_ he thought, getting out of the car.

"Jarvis? I'm home," Tony called out as he walked into the house. His voice echoed eerily through the dark room.

The lights clicked on almost instantly. "Hello, sir." Jarvis's voice filled Tony with instant relief. "Welcome home."

"Jarvis, you have no _idea_ how much I've missed you." Tony collapsed onto a couch, sinking into the cushions with a sigh. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, his mind still racing with unasked questions.

"Are you okay, sir?" Jarvis asked.

Tony decided to answer a question with a question. "Is Darcy really gone?"

“Miss Darcy departed months ago, before your kidnapping. She did not show any desire to return,” Jarvis’s voice was softer and more compassionate than Tony remembered programming it.

"She's not coming back?" Tony felt completely and utterly lost. All of his plans had hinged upon Darcy being present. Now she was gone and he had no idea where to start. "Jarvis, I just want to make things right, make things right between us. I want a daughter again."

"Sir, I'll help you in any way I can," Jarvis promised.

Tony got up from the couch. "We'll just have to find her, Jarvis. Then I can make things better." Tony walked into his workshop. He had a lot of work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment! Constructive criticism is welcome!


	3. back to square one (but i remember that's a good thing)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only thing that’s constant in life is change; Darcy’s fresh start gets more complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from “Square One” by Lauren Aquilina
> 
> I pretty satisfied by how this chapter turned out, so I hope everyone likes it

**May 2, 2009**

Darcy looked around, disoriented. It was late evening, and she had just gotten off the bus to go home, but a quick glance at her surroundings made her realize that she was lost. “Dammit,” Darcy cursed quietly as she realized that she got off the bus at the wrong stop. Collapsing onto a bench, she pulled out her phone and opened StarkMaps. Darcy plugged in her home address and quickly realized that not only had she gotten off at the wrong stop, but she had also taken the wrong bus altogether. 

“Fuck,” she mumbled, blinking tears out of her eyes. She had been stressed to her breaking point for a while, ever since she found out that her Father had been kidnapped. It was too much for her to take. In a few short days, she left home, moved to an unfamiliar city, had to start living on her own, and found out that her only family was gone. Darcy wasn’t sure how much more she could take. She looked down at her phone. It was an estimated half hour to walk home. “You can do this,” she whispered and got walking. 

Darcy’s apartment was dark when she got home. She lived alone in a fairly bad neighborhood and paid rent through a series of jobs. She waitresses at a small café in the mornings and worked fixing Starkphones at a mall kiosk in the afternoons. Her free time in the evening was usually spent coding, her third and final means of income. Darcy preferred coding to the other two, but she lacked the reputation to start an actual business off of her skill, and she worried that too much success in any area would bring attention to her. She didn’t want attention. She knew that there were people looking for her. Rhodey, her godfather, would likely be worrying over her disappearance. And even if her Father didn’t want her to be heir to Stark Industries, with him gone Obediah Stane would almost certainly be interested in finding her and having her a part of the company, even if it just meant parading her around as a figurehead. 

Darcy moved to Chicago for the sake of lying low, but she lacked enough fondness for the city to stay. She had spent her first few evenings in Chicago filling out college applications. Darcy knew she would have to avoid the most prestigious schools - any kind of Ivy League university would bring too much attention to herself. Her Father’s alma mater, MIT, would be out of the question. Even if it wasn’t the kind of Ivy League university she would have preferred, Darcy had taken an interest in Culver University, and their political science program. Darcy, using the name Elizabeth Darcy Lewis, had gotten her acceptance letter to Culver University just a few weeks ago. No one would expect the offspring of Tony Stark to be studying politics instead of robotics. So Darcy was biding her time, waiting until September came around and she could start University. 

Darcy quietly made her way to her bathroom and quickly got ready for bed. She had to be up at five am if she wanted to be at the café on time, and walking home lost her half an hour of time spent on coding. And she had a commission due in three days. And she needed the money from that commission to make rent. “Fuck,” Darcy muttered as she got her laptop out and started working on the code. It was a fairly difficult commission, a computer program for a new tech start-up that wanted to start launching their products as soon as possible. The short deadline meant a higher payment, but it also meant that Darcy was putting a lot of stress on herself. After a few hours of work Darcy glanced at the clock: 12:30 am. _Four and a half hours of sleep. Perfect,_ She thought sarcastically. Darcy closed her laptop and got into bed, ignoring her stress in favor of getting some rest. 

**May 3, 2009**

_Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!_ The alarm on Darcy’s StarkPhone shocked her into wakefulness. Darcy groaned as she realized how tired she felt. 

“Coffee,” she groaned and stumbled out of bed towards her kitchen. Three cups of coffee and one frigid shower later, Darcy felt alert enough to stay awake on her bus ride. The ride itself was uneventful; Darcy put her headphones in and let her mind wander. 

“Morning, Darcy,” Amanda, Darcy’s manager at the café, greeted Darcy as she walked in. 

“Good morning Amanda,” Darcy replied as she pinned her name tag to her uniform top. The early morning shifts were usually the easiest, as people wanted to get their coffee to-go so they could take it to work. Darcy waited on a few tables, but usually, her rush hour started closer to nine am. Once it did hit nine o’clock, Darcy was frantically delivering orders and smiling fakely so she’d get better tips. She was in the zone until she heard a name that snapped her right out of it. 

“Tony Stark was rescued from the Afghanistan desert two days ago on May 1st. He will be delivering a press release later this afternoon with more details. Stark Industry stock rose by 12 percent with the announcement of this news, and it is predicted to only grow as Mr. Stark regains control of his company. Our thoughts and prayers are with him as he recovers.” The television in the café delivered the news to Darcy.

Darcy felt an overwhelming sense of shock. Her emotions were suddenly too foggy for her to comprehend. She couldn’t quite pinpoint how she felt about her Father’s rescue. On one hand, Darcy left to get away from him. On the other hand... Darcy didn’t want him to die before she got to tell him how she felt. She needed the closure that talking to him to his face would bring. 

“Excuse me ma’am, but we ordered out food ten minutes ago and it still isn’t here,” a customer complained. Darcy nodded blankly and went to retrieve the food. She felt dizzy, and it was hard for her to breathe. 

“Darcy, are you okay?” Amanda asked. “You’re so pale! Are you sick?”

“I’m not feeling well,” Darcy said faintly. 

“You need to go home, Darcy. You look terrible.” Darcy nodded weakly and got her things from the employee room. Once she was home, Darcy fell into her routine. She grabbed her laptop and a mug of coffee and started typing away on the keyboard. Darcy knew that time was passing, as she slowly but surely made progress on the program. When Darcy finished the commission, she closed her laptop and glanced around her room. It was dark outside, and the only light in her house come from the streetlights outside the window. She hadn’t realized how much her eyes stung from the harsh brightness of the laptop screen until she closed it, and she hadn’t realized how hungry she was until her stomach growled. It was a little after 9 PM. She hadn’t taken a break since she got home and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. _You can’t keep doing this,_ Darcy thought miserably. She padded into her kitchen and turned the stovetop on. Pouring a can of soup into a soup pan, Darcy focused her thoughts entirely on her tasks at hand. Once the soup was done she turned the stove off and poured it into a bowl. She didn’t pull out her phone until she was seated at her kitchen table. _You’re going to have to watch the press release at some point,_ Darcy reminded herself. 

She quickly typed into her phone: _Tony Stark May 3 press release_. The first result was a YouTube video. Darcy tapped her screen, playing the video. 

The first thing her brain registered was that her Father looked like shit. _He must have not gone to the hospital yet. What could be so important that he would call a press conference before going to the hospital?_

Tony Stark started to speak, and Darcy could hear the exhaustion in his voice, “Hey, would it be alright if everyone sat down?” The video jerked as the camera was lowered closer to the ground. “I never got to say goodbye to my father,” Darcy heard the raw emotion in Tony’s voice. It was the first time she had ever heard that kind of emotion in him. “There are questions that I would've asked him. I would've asked him how he felt about what his company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch of a man we all remember from the newsreels. I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero-accountability.”

The crowd of reporters murmured softly. Tony pointed to a reporter a few feet away from the camera. “What happened over there?” The reporter asked somberly. 

“I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I'm shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International until such a time as I can decide  
what the future of this company will be. What direction it should take will be the one that is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well.” As Tony finished his speech, he was forcefully ushered off of the stage by Obediah Stane. Darcy wrinkled her nose in distaste. She held a particular disdain for Stane. He had always treated her more like Tony’s pet than Tony’s daughter. 

“What we should take away from this is that Tony's back! And he's healthier than ever. We are gonna have a little internal discussion and we'll get back to you with a follow-up.” The false cheerfulness of Stane’s voice made Darcy roll her eyes. It was obvious that Tony hadn’t consulted Stane on his plan.

_I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens,_ Darcy mused, _His kidnapping must’ve affected Tony more than I would have imagined. Maybe he’s changed a little._

Darcy glanced back down at the video. The camera panned away from where Stane and Tony exited as briefly swept across the crowd. Darcy spotted a flashed of ginger hair and quickly paused the video as she realized it was Pepper she spotted in the background. Pepper was standing next to a man Darcy didn’t recognize. Darcy let her eyes rest on his face, putting it to memory. _Even if I’m not a Stark anymore, I should still keep up to date on Stark Industries,_ Darcy reasoned, _I should still know the names and faces of the higher-ups._

Darcy turned off her phone and finished her soup. _Might as well go to bed. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a less confusing day._

**May 17 2009**

It had been two weeks since Darcy’s Father came back from the dead, and news on Tony Stark was still impossible to avoid. Every gossip magazine seemed to have their own take on the events that transpired. Every talk show brought in “experts” to analyze Tony Stark’s cripples business decisions for signs of PTSD. Darcy was sick of it. Every day the café showed some lame morning talk show, obsessed with Tony Stark. Every time Darcy heard her Father’s name it set her nerves a little more on edge. 

“Hi, my name is Darcy and I’ll be your server this morning. What can I get for you?” Darcy smiled at a pretty redhead. 

The redhead smirked at her, “What’s good?”

“Well, our claim-to-fame is our muffins; they’re the best in Chicago. I’m partial to the cranberry muffin, but blueberry is our bestseller.”

“I’ll take one cranberry muffin and a vanilla latté,” the redhead ran her tongue over her bottom lip. 

Darcy blushed and gave a jerky nod, “Is that all?”

“Mm-hmm,” the pretty redhead smiled. 

Darcy walked back to the kitchen to make the latté and retrieve the muffin. As she glanced around the café, she realized that it was practically empty; the redhead and a few stray college students on laptops were the only patrons. Darcy brought the food back the redhead with a genuine smile ringing at her lips. “Here you go,” Darcy chirped. 

“Thanks,” the redhead said, “I’m Natalie.”

“Your welcome, Natalie,” Darcy replied. “Is this your first time coming here?”

“I’m in Chicago on business, so I won’t be in the city very long,” Natalie said regretfully, “Which is a shame because this muffin looks really good.”

Darcy smiled, “Told you so.” Just as Darcy was about to muster up the courage to ask Natalie for her phone number, the bell over the door jingled, signaling the incoming of more customers. Darcy gave Natalie an apologetic look and went over to take the new customers’ orders. Natalie finished eating and paid for her food before Darcy could try her luck at getting her number. _What a shame,_ Darcy thought, _She seemed really nice._

**The same day, hours later**

Darcy hummed softly along to the songs playing from her phone as she made her dinner. Darcy had been in a good mood all day; even if she didn’t get Natalie’s phone number, she still enjoyed talking to the redhead. Darcy wished she had a way to get in contact with her, but Chicago was simply too big of a city for it to be possible. 

Darcy pushed the thoughts of Natalie out of her mind as she focused on not burning her grilled cheese. She was usually good at cooking, but she didn’t quite trust herself to be around burning hot objects when her mind was wandering. Just as Darcy finished cooking her food and turned the stove off, she heard a thumping noise coming from outside her door. Darcy stiffly stood still and strained her ears to identify the sound. 

“Fuck!” Darcy heard the curse whispered from somewhere down the hall. Grabbing her can of pepper spray, Darcy lightly walked over to the door. In one move, she flung the door open and aimed the spray at the woman in the hallway. 

The woman in the hall was Natalie. Natalie, who was picked the lock of the apartment four doors down. Natalie, who was bleeding onto the hallway carpet from a wound on her shoulder. “Darcy?” Natalie asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I live here,” Darcy spoke, trying to keep calm. The door to the apartment that Natalie was breaking into opened with a click. “Do you need any help?”

Natalie gave Darcy a calculating look. _Probably some kind of danger assessment,_ Darcy thought, _She wants to know if I’m a threat._

“Do you have any food,” Natalie finally said, “Because everything in my safehouse is nonperishable and bland as hell.”

“I made grilled cheese sandwiches.”

“You think you could bring some over?”

“Sure,” Darcy said. She wasn’t entirely sure why she offered to help Natalie, other than that the redhead was pretty and trustworthy. Or, at lease, trustworthy on Darcy's first impression.

Ten minutes later, Darcy was sitting on the floor of the empty living room of Natalie’s apartment, watching the redhead clean out the gunshot wound on the shoulder with rubbing alcohol. “Shit,” Natalie cursed as the poured the disinfectant on the wound.

“Is the bullet still in your shoulder,” Darcy asked, her concern for the redhead overwhelming her. 

Natalie shook her head, “It’s just a scrape.”

Darcy glanced over at her sandwiches, but she had lost her appetite. She looked back over at Natalie and saw that the redhead was already stitching up her arm. “So do you live here?” Darcy asked. 

“No,” Natalie said, “This is just a safehouse.”

“Why do you need a safehouse?”

“I have a dangerous job.”

Darcy’s brow furrowed in concern, “What kind of dangerous?”

“The deadly kind.”

“What do you do,” Darcy asked, half horrified yet half intrigued.”

“Classified,” Natalie sighed.

“Oh,” Darcy said, watching as Natalie finished the stitches and put the medical supplies away. “Do you want a grilled cheese.”

Natalie smirked, “God, I’m starving.” Darcy handed her one of the sandwiches and watched for Natalie’s reaction. The redhead let out a moan of delight as she the first bite. “You certainly know good food, Darcy.”

Darcy grinned, “Grilled cheese is my specialty.”

The two girls sat in a comfortable silence as they ate their meal. Darcy didn’t know why, but she felt comfortable around Natalie. It was as if she had known the redhead for ages. As if they could just sit around and talk for hours. 

“It’s getting late,” Natalie said apologetically. “You might want to get back to your apartment.”

Darcy glanced at her phone to check the time and was surprised to find that it was nearing midnight. “Will you still be in Chicago tomorrow?”

Natalie shook her head, her expression somber. “It’s not good for you - for anyone - to get to know me.”

“Well, I don’t really care if it’s bad for me. Next time you’re around, you should stop by for some specialty grilled cheese.” Darcy got up and walked toward the door. 

“Darcy,” Natalie called out. Darcy stopped and turned back to face the redhead. “Next time I’m around, I will, I promise.”

Darcy smiled, “Bye, Natalie.”

“Natasha. My name is Natasha,” the redhead said, her voice tinged with emotion. 

Darcy saw only sincerity in Natasha’s eyes. “Bye Natasha.”

“Bye Darcy.”

Darcy shut the door with a quiet thump and walked back to her apartment. That night, she dreamed ago hair as red as blood and green eyes, full of unspoken emotion. And true to Natasha's word, her safehouse apartment was empty as a desert the next day. Natasha was gone without a trace, leaving only an aftertaste in Darcy’s life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you can :)


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